First Snow

Hope you got what you wanted!

Holiday Wishes

I want to wish everyone who visits 829 Southdrive a Merry Christmas

and a happy and healthy New Year.  This small group of bloggers

has become another family to me and I care for them dearly.  I look

forward to reading their work in the months and years to come. 

Travel safely, enjoy family and friends, and eat plenty of oysters.

And, oh yeah, Go Giants!  Beat Green Bay! 

Rockefeller Center

NYC for the holidays

For years, my family and I have been going to NYC on a

Sunday, a week or two before Christmas.  Pictures in

front of the tree, lunch, and a show is usually the itinerary. 

Today was no different, but in some ways more

satisfying than the usual. 

Virtually on the steps of St. Patrick's, the Christmas spirit shined

through.  "Keep it moving, Buster.  Huh?  I mean don't walk.

There's no bus service here in December!  Happy Holidays!".

For many years, we would have lunch in the Sea Grill, right on

the edge of the skating rink at Rockefeller Plaza, and often at

a window table.  Great martinis, fish, and $22 for half a dozen

oysters.  This year we opted for something more blue-collar.

The line around the corner was a bit intimidating, but it moved

pretty quickly, and before we knew it we were inside and

enveloped in the controlled mayhem otherwise known as

Katz's delicatessen.  I am sooooo glad we went.  

Most restaurants bring bread and butter.  Here you get a plate of

pickles.  Don't fill up on the half-sours, Liv.  Leave room for the

chicken noodle soup. I had the green tomato pickles all to myself. 

Lucky

Evidently, I didn't know from great pastrami until we came to the

birthplace.   Close to 3/4 of a pound of perfectly cooked, juicy,

somewhat smoky and peppery pastrami on Pechter's rye.

That's it.  My daughter saw someone else's sandwich being served

and quickly asked the waiter if she too could have, (cringe),

American cheese on hers as well.  Mustard is the only suggested

condiment for pastrami.  Katz's says you can ask for mayonnaise,

at your own peril. The matzo ball soup was obscene.  They claim:

"If the soup weren’t surrounding it, this matzo ball would float

away".  Huge ball of matzo and light as a feather.  Great broth too.  

Huge place.  Celebrity pictures on the wall.  I immediately felt at

home when I saw Soupy Sales.  Bill Clinton was here.  Who knew?

Harry met Sally here, and I met the best pastrami on earth.

This is the reason you don't have dessert at Katz's.  Il laboratorio

de gelato is right across the street.  Owned by the guy who started

Ciao Bella, this stuff is a notch or two better.  Coming from me,

that's saying alot.  I'm not so much a dessert person; I'd rather

have some more oysters while others are having Valhrona chocolate.

The yuzu sorbet was mind-blowing and I could taste it all the way

to the Orpheum Theatre.

I was at first skeptical when I heard we were going to see Stomp.

Wrong again.  Second row.....  Second row!   We could feel their

breaths, they were so close to us.  It was loud, raucous, and totally

captivating from start to finish.  Unlike productions we've seen

before, the theater was not hot and stuffy, the knee-room was

downright luxurious, and after an hour and three quarters with no

break, I didn't want the show to be over.  How's that for a review?

I'm already over the embarrassment in the swamps this afternoon.

This day was way too good to be ruined by a silly game.

Right?

Frostbitten

New Year's Day frostbite regatta, Long Island, NY, 1971.  I'm
standing there thinking how I'd rather be sitting on the couch
watching bowl games all day.  At least Dad had his hot buttered
rum in a thermos!

P.S.- Notice the custom boom vang.  After breaking two booms
with a bolt through the boom and a U-shaped bale attached to the
vang wire, Dad used an aluminum plate that spread the load over
about six inches, eliminating that pressure.

As of a few years ago, this penguin, #8839, was still being
campaigned on the Chesapeake out of Annapolis. The class
size has seriously dwindled, however.  It's a shame.

Superstitious?

First a blackout during the Cowboys game.  Now, snow comes
through the roof before the Vikings game.  Am I superstitious?  No. 
But I kinda wonder what's behind all of this weird stuff.  You know,
the Vikings used to play outside in the cold where football is supposed
to be played. The Bud Grant era with Jim Marshall,  Carl Eller, Fran
Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman.  We would hopefully have already been
basking in the glow of a hard-fought victory played on a field of
permafrost for several hours by now, but I find myself hoping that
this change in plans will affect the Vikings more than my beloved
G-Men.  The game has been moved to Monday night, in Detroit,
indoors once again.  Has anyone checked the roof? 
Knock on wood.  And don't walk under that Ladder!

Just Because

No idea why this song means something to me.  It just does.
I first loved the Three Dog Nights' rendition from their live
album in 1969, and then I got stuck in Traffic. 

King's Carol

After hearing all the cheesy Christmas songs in every
store and mall for the last few weeks, it's nice to come
home and listen to the real thing. 

All you need

My Old Schuylkill

First you have to row a little boat

Old and New

Dwayne James Mitchell Jr., b.12/7/2010.

A date which will live in infamy.

Future grinder. And railmeat too.

He's flexing his muscles already.

Recap

Dominance from the git-go.  Donavan was mellow yellow.

Quite rightly.  You may not be able to tell, but it was really

cold today.  The lettuce in our salad was freezing 

while tailgating.  Salad you say? 

I've been a football fanatic since I was knee-high to,

well, I've never really been knee-high to anything.

Some folks like Futbol, others like baseball.  This

sport runs through my veins, and when I get cut,

I bleed Blue.  Today was the last homegame we

will attend in the regular season.  We feel

 blessed and lucky to have seen in person our

favorite team play this year, in their brand

 new stadium.  We've started a tradition that we

hope to carry on for a long time to come. 

Reconnaissance

Donovan McNabb, Clinton Portis, and Santana Moss arrived

early on Saturday to scope out the scene at the Meadowlands.

High atop Fraternity Rock, they looked west, only to find that the

Giants faithful had already begun lighting their charcoal and 

stoking their firepits in anticipation of Sunday's showdown.

The three agreed that there was no intelligence to be found here.

How about these guys?



Trenton Style

One of New Jersey's finest, Richie Cole still

brings down the house.  I think one of his

biggest gigs was playing for Doc Severinsen 

in the Tonight Show Band for a bunch of years.

He's a gentle-hearted soul, and I'm fortunate

to know him.  One of his music teachers was Jim

Lauffer, father of my dear friend Pete. 

Pete happens to be playing piano in this clip.

He's an extraordinary musician in his own right.

Imagine the fun Pete and I have when he comes

sailing with me. Trenton Makes, the World Takes. 

 And I'm proud as hell to live close by.

This next clip is for Pete. Because
Innagoddadavida was too freakin long.